Glenn never got the chance to be a dad on The Walking Dead, but he would have taught baby Hershel these important life lessons.
Father’s Day is a little bittersweet for Glenn fans in The Walking Dead family because Glenn never got to see his son. He wasn’t there for little Hershel’s first step, or first word, and he won’t be there to see his son grow into the kind of man that he and Hershel’s grandfather would be proud of. Even though Maggie is more than up to the task of being both father and mother to Hershel there’s still the sense of an empty space that should be filled by Glenn’s quiet determination, compassion, and vast love for his family and his community.
No matter what the group went through or how much they lost Glenn never become bitter. Instead he channeled all his pain and growth into deepening his understanding of the world and reminding all of his chosen family just how strong they were and that what they had and what they built was worth fighting for.
Glenn never gave up on people, and he never gave into the temptation to be petty, or vindictive, or cruel. Unlike his murderer he valued human life and having to take life hurt him deeply. The massacre at the outpost horrified him but ultimately he put his desire to protect Maggie, Enid, and the rest of the community first.
Glenn was the heart of the group and he took seriously his responsibility to carry the memories and the wisdom of those they had lost like Dale and Hershel. Glenn would have been a wonderful father to his son. If he had been given the chance to guide Hershel as he grew up he would have taught Hershel these principles, the ones that he lived by:
5. The Glass Is Always Half Full
"“The bright side: It’ll be the fall the kills us. I’m a glass half-full kind of guy.” – Glenn Rhee"
When Glenn first risked his life to save Rick in season one his pragmatic optimism was evident from the start. As Glenn and Rick climbed up the side of the building to reach safety Glenn’s quip revealed a lot about his personality. It was clear he was competent, confident, kept his cool in tense or dangerous situations, and didn’t think twice about risking his life to help a stranger.
It’s safe to assume that Glenn would want his son to mirror that optimism and see that even though the world around them could be bleak, dangerous, or sad it could also be beautiful and filled with love. Hershel would have grown up with Glenn’s gentle humor and sunny outlook in any situation surrounding him and influencing him to see the world the same way. Even when facing horrific circumstances Glenn knew to always look for the bright side, and he inspired the others to do the same.
Now that Maggie is living for Glenn as well as for their son hopefully she had adopted Glenn’s “glass half-full” optimism and is cultivating that in young Hershel. Hershel will need that pragmatism and that optimism in order to find his way in whatever the apocalypse world evolves into next.
4. Don’t Stop Believing
"“Maggie’s father was a great man. And he told me all I had to do was believe, and that’s what I’m gonna do.” – Glenn Rhee"
In the apocalypse there’s nothing worse than not knowing where your loved one are or if they’re alive, but it’s also very common in that world. Glenn faced that situation several times when the group got separated and he didn’t know if any of the people he loved, especially Maggie, were still alive.
After Hershel’s murder and the Governor’s attack on the prison Glenn survived, still weak from illness, but he didn’t know if Maggie had survived or where she might have gone. Glenn saved Tara, and then he was determined to find Maggie. Against all odds he committed to believing that she was out there and that he could find her. And eventually he did find her.
Any father would want their child to learn the value of persistence, and perseverance, and the importance of following through. But Glenn’s faith was what drove him, the same way that Hershel’s faith drove him.
Hershel was a religious man but Glenn put his faith in something also intangible but less mysterious- love. He believed love would guide him to Maggie. He believed love was the basis of the group’s strength and the foundation that family was built on. Faith in the people in that you love and in your family and community was an important value that Glenn absolutely would want his son to understand and share.
3. Be True To Yourself
"“Glenn: People you love, they made you who you are. They’re still part of you. If you stop being you, that last bit of them that’s still around inside, who you are it’s gone. Enid: Who are those people to you? Glenn: My parents. A man named Dale. Maggie’s father, Hershel. A woman named Andrea. A man named Tyreese. Who are they to you?”"
The apocalypse changes people. As time goes on and things get harder people become harder. Glenn fought against that. His insistence on remaining true to his ideals that were shaped by Dale, and Hershel, and all the people he loved and admired was a living legacy for those people. He knew one of the most fundamental truths about humanity which is that the people we love are never really gone. They live on in the memories, stories, and choices of the people whose lives they touched.
In the apocalypse world where there are few tangible ways to remember people like photos or recordings that living legacy is the only legacy there is. Hershel will need to learn that the hard way, learning who his father was through Maggie’s memories and stories of Glenn. But it’s certain that Glenn would want his son to know that the people he loves will always be with him as long as he remembers them and is shaped by their influence. Living for other people is difficult, but it’s a way to memorialize the past and people who laid the foundation for the new path forward.
Hershel isn’t the only child that will have to figure out how to keep the legacy of a beloved parent alive, but hopefully he and Maggie will return to the communities where he will know the love and security of the community that his father and grandfather helped to build.
2. Keep Fighting, Even When You’re Scared
"“You honor the dead by going on. Even when you’re scared. You live because they don’t get to.”- Glenn Rhee"
This is one of the most important lessons Glenn could have shared with Hershel. He helped Enid overcome the loss of her parents by telling her that they would live on in her, and that she had a responsibility to keep living for them. It’s ironic that his own son will need to learn that lesson too. Hershel won’t have any memories of Glenn to keep him going the way that Enid had memories of her parents. Or the way that Glenn had memories of his own family and Dale, Hershel, Andrea, or any of the people he loved who were lost. But Glenn will live on in the stories of his kindness, his love, his devotion to helping people, and his morality.
In The Walking Dead world just surviving day to day is terrifying. Hershel will need to be strong to survive. Maggie will ensure that he’s prepared to take on walkers, and despots, and anything else that he must fight against in the world but it will be Glenn’s legacy and Maggie’s calm and steadying presence that will give him the inner strength he needs to thrive in that world. Keep living Hershel, for your father and grandfather and all the people they loved.
1. We Can Survive Together, But Only Together
Glenn believed that humanity was worth fighting for and that he believed that ultimately everyone that was left had to work together to survive. He never wavered in his commitment to embracing others, helping others, and building community. During the darkest times when the family of survivors nearly came apart at the seams Glenn was the one who kept them together by constantly reminding them that the only way they’d survive was to work together. And that it was only together that they’d build something worth saving.
As Maggie said in her wonderful speech about Glenn to Rick in The Walking Dead season 7 finale:
"The decision was made a long time ago. Before any of us knew each other. We were all strangers who would have just passed each other on the street before the world ended. But now we mean everything to each other. You were in trouble. You were trapped. Glenn didn’t know you but he helped you. He put himself in danger for you. And that started it all. From Atlanta, to my daddy’s farm, to the prison, to here. To this moment now – not as strangers; as family – because Glenn chose to be there for you, that day a long time ago – that was the decision that changed everything. It started with both of you and it just grew, all of this: to sacrifice for each other, to suffer and stand, to grieve, to give, to love, to live, to fight for each other. Glenn made the decision, Rick. I was just following his lead."
Maggie will continue to follow Glenn’s lead when it comes to raising Hershel to be a strong, compassionate, brave man like Glenn and like her father. It’s tragic that Hershel will never get to know Glenn or know what it’s like to have a father but Maggie will keep Glenn’s memory and legacy alive in young Hershel.
If Glenn could teach his beloved son just one thing, it would be that love, family, and loyalty are the best weapons against the darkness, death, and horror of the apocalypse world. Happy Father’s Day Glenn, and to all the fathers in The Walking Dead universe.